Zechariah 1
Living Bible
1 Subject: messages from the Lord. These messages from the Lord were given to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet) in early November of the second year of the reign of King Darius.
2 The Lord Almighty was very angry with your fathers. 3 But he will turn again and favor you if only you return to him. 4 Don’t be like your fathers were! The earlier prophets pled in vain with them to turn from all their evil ways.
“Come, return to me,” the Lord God said. But no, they wouldn’t listen; they paid no attention at all.
5-6 Your fathers and their prophets are now long dead, but remember the lesson they learned, that God’s Word endures! It caught up with them and punished them. Then at last they repented.
“We have gotten what we deserved from God,” they said. “He has done just what he warned us he would.”
7 The following February, still in the second year of the reign of King Darius, another message from the Lord came to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet), in a vision in the night: 8 I saw a Man sitting on a red horse that was standing among the myrtle trees beside a river. Behind him were other horses, red and bay and white, each with its rider.[a]
9 An angel stood beside me, and I asked him, “Sir, what are all those horses for?”
“I’ll tell you,” he replied.
10 Then the rider on the red horse—he was the Angel of the Lord—answered me, “The Lord has sent them to patrol the earth for him.”
11 Then the other riders reported to the Angel of the Lord, “We have patrolled the whole earth, and everywhere there is prosperity and peace.”
12 Upon hearing this, the Angel of the Lord prayed this prayer: “O Lord Almighty, for seventy years your anger has raged against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. How long will it be until you again show mercy to them?”
13 And the Lord answered the angel who stood beside me, speaking words of comfort and assurance.
14 Then the angel said, “Shout out this message from the Lord Almighty: ‘Don’t you think I care about what has happened to Judah and Jerusalem? I am as jealous as a husband for his captive wife. 15 I am very angry with the heathen nations sitting around at ease, for I was only a little displeased with my people, but the nations afflicted them far beyond my intentions.’ 16 Therefore the Lord declares: ‘I have returned to Jerusalem filled with mercy; my Temple will be rebuilt,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and so will all Jerusalem.’ 17 Say it again: ‘The Lord Almighty declares that the cities of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Jerusalem and bless her and live in her.’ ”
18 Then I looked and saw four animal horns!
19 “What are these?” I asked the angel.
He replied, “They represent the four world powers that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.
21 “What have these men come to do?” I asked.
The angel replied, “They have come to take hold of the four horns that scattered Judah so terribly, and to pound them on the anvil and throw them away.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 1:8 each with its rider, implied.
Zechariah 1
New American Standard Bible 1995
A Call to Repentance
1 In the eighth month of the second year of (A)Darius, the word of the Lord came to (B)Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of (C)Iddo saying, 2 “The Lord was very (D)angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “(E)Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Do not be (F)like your fathers, to whom the (G)former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “(H)Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did (I)not listen or give heed to Me,” declares the Lord. 5 “Your (J)fathers, where are they? And the (K)prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, (L)overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘(M)As the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”
Patrol of the Earth
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows: 8 I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a (N)red horse, and he was standing among the (O)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and (P)white horses behind him. 9 Then I said, “My (Q)lord, what are these?” And the (R)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” 10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to [a](S)patrol the earth.” 11 So they answered the angel of the Lord who was (T)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have [b]patrolled the earth, and behold, (U)all the earth is [c]peaceful and quiet.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, (V)how long will You (W)have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been (X)indignant these (Y)seventy years?” 13 The Lord answered the (Z)angel who was speaking with me with [d]gracious words, (AA)comforting words. 14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “(AB)Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am (AC)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 But I am very (AD)angry with the nations who are (AE)at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they [e](AF)furthered the disaster.” 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will (AG)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My (AH)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring (AI)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ 17 Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My (AJ)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again (AK)comfort Zion and again (AL)choose Jerusalem.”’”
18 [f]Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns. 19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the (AM)horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the Lord showed me four (AN)craftsmen. 21 I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the (AO)horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to (AP)throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 1:10 Lit walk about through
- Zechariah 1:11 Lit walked about through
- Zechariah 1:11 Lit sitting
- Zechariah 1:13 Lit good
- Zechariah 1:15 Lit helped for evil
- Zechariah 1:18 Ch 2:1 in Heb
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
